a friend and i were having a debate as to who is the greatest windsurfer of all time, I think it is Naish and he beleived dunkerbeck. any thoughts?
I dont see any Dunkerbeck sails or Dunkerbeck boards on the market?
In fact I couldnt even tell you what he looks like?
Honest
Has to be Robby. Sailed Pipeline, one of the first to sail Jaws on camera, looped a race board on camera, all round top bloke and still an awesome sailor. (Yes I have got his autograph!)
There is no doubt Robby Naish is the most successful pro windsurfer it terms of his 'branding' but I think to define the absolute 'best' windsurfer is hard to do. I think Dunkerbeck won a lot more world titles yeah? I think it's more appropriate to just name those you admire.
Naish - True legend of the sport
Dunkerbeck - As above and for the domination of the PWA for so long
Polakow - For pushing wave riding to new limits
Campello - Arguably took freestyle into the direction it's headed today
Mike Waltze was one of the first to sail the wave spots of Maui.
A true pioneer.
*The groms will be asking; "Mike who" ?
lol.
It's like asking who is the greatest boxer of all time, it will never be apples with apples.
Naish is certainly undisputed as the first great champion of the sport and is an all round great sailor. He won races against pretty much everyone, but is probably regarded by most as a wavesailor. I would certainly say he is a better wavesailor than Dunkerbeck.
But then by the time Dunkerbeck was dominating the PWA it could be said that it was much larger and therefore more competative, so maybe at thier prime Robby wouldn't have been a match? And there is no denying that Dunkerbeck is one of the few sailors to come close to being a household name (only throughout Europe mind you).
And this is only taking in account PWA and mainstream sailors, you then have the likes of Bruce Kendall from NZ in the Olympic divisions, and guys like Dave Kalama in the waves - A true pioneer but didn't really compete a great deal.
Too hard a choice, but Robbie would definatly have to be up there.
I would say:
Naish and Polakow are the 2 all time greatest in terms of what they have done for the sport overall and their level of sailing both past and present, but there are many that have had a major influence as well like Mike Waltze, Victor Fernandez, Ricardo, Kauli and Levi. They have all done their part.
Elmo
For his Elmoism, Elmoing gear, Elmoing Elmo, Elmoing Hardie, Elmoing 40 knots etc etc!!
If you are talking early pioneers then Cabrinha would have to be up there.
For true spirit robert teriitehau he has embodied the go for it side of windsurfing.
if you are talking about what they have done for the sport, then how about jim drake, and the howle schwalzer guy (i can't remember how to spell his name)
you can't do much more for windsurfing then them, seeing as they invented it.. aparantly
In pure ability Dunkie. However being recognised as the greatest is just as much about PR. Robby is/has been a great ambassador AND a great sailor, so I think he probably takes the win.
It has to be an all round sailor, if you start dividing up into disciplines then it could be any of at least 30 sailors. Besides ask almost any of the new gen of PWA stars who they look up to Robby is the man.
Are we kidding?
Dunkerbeck won the PBA/PWA Overall World Title 12 times in a row; at a time where you had to qualify to be racing at an event with him (not like now)...
12 times. TWELVE TIMES. That included 7 Wave World Titles, 12 Race World Titles and a Freestyle World Title (yes, freestyle!).
Sure, he's not the most interesting person to talk to at the best of times, but nobody has dominated a sport like Dunkerbeck did, and he could drink you under the table even if he had to race the next day.
@ Greenroom - no Dunkerbeck sails on the market? Have you ever tried a NP sail from 1989-2006 ?? It was a Dunkerbeck sail.
Apparently, he rides for Switzerland (SUI-11) now because of tax related reasons ...lol.
Dunkerbeck has the proof brand which predominantly make wave, and the Thommen boards are all T1 Dunkerbeck. So I think it s fair to say he probably owns part of this with Peter Thommen.
Sean, whilst Dunkie's results speak volumes (and legend of what he was doing before he started racing speaks more) it can be argued that his wave world titles were a result of their scoring moving towards jumps.
Dunkie vs Robby it's like Holden vs Ford.
They are both great, I wish I had a 10th of the ability that they have.
I remember Robby Naish winning at least 6 Windsurfer World Titles before winning PWA titles when the competition was real stiff and 200,000 people would come to watch in europe. I also remember 1977 worlds in Sardinia where Robby's Windsurfer was so bad you could bend his fin from one side of the rail to the other and he had on one arm in plaster from his wrist to his elbow, no harness those days, won every race ( 10 ) to win the Worlds.
Robby Naish 100% is good at it all, and been at the top since the start, awsome sailor. Polokow No.1 in the waves no doubt.
i am voting naish first, as he is a legend, i took a few points off on account of the fact that he lives within the US and is an american but he still had enough points to win!
next polakow,
i mean the guy has to be hardest core dude on the planet. even bungy jumping for him doesn't get the adrenaline pumping, he has to put a bucket on his head so he can't see and be pushed over the edge before he is ready. 
then dunky. he's a winner at everything!
Dunkerbeck has 35 world titles, over a 100 pwa wins and still competing! who else can compare to that?
